The Denver Broncos are in a sticky situation.
Here’s what we know: Peyton Manning is injured, the offense is in disarray and Brock Osweiler received the first meaningful snaps of his career.
Here’s the question everybody wants an answer to: Is it time to move on from Manning?
And as far as I’m concerned, there’s only one correct answer: We don’t know. But I can promise you that not many people are going to be towing that line this week. This has become a diametric issue, and the only person we can blame is Gary Kubiak. There’s no going back from what we witnessed yesterday. The fans aren’t going to forget that Peyton Manning. And it’s Kubiak’s fault.
I have no idea how injured Manning was or is, which means that I have no idea how severely his play was limited on Sunday. But I know that if there was any doubt about his ability to perform, he should have sat; the Broncos never should have allowed Manning to put himself in a position where he would embarrass himself that thoroughly.
Now, because of that performance, the calls for Osweiler are louder and more serious than ever. More importantly, they’re warranted.
The Broncos addressed the subject following the game, but this is an issue that has to be handled carefully; nobody in that locker room can speak the truth, the full truth and nothing but the truth.
Luckily, I can. Let’s break down what the Broncos had to say about Manning in this version of “Read Between the Lines” :
Kubiak on why he pulled Manning
“To be honest with you, I was protecting him because I was worried about him. Let me just say this, I am obviously very disappointed in the NFL game. Give Kansas City credit. They played a great football game. [Chiefs Head Coach] Andy [Reid] had them ready to go. I’m disappointed in myself. This is on me. I probably should have made a decision not to play him in the game and the reason, I needed to make that, probably, a tough decision there. He practiced Friday, felt good, came out of practice Friday and Saturday, as you all know, his ribs were bothering him a little bit. I probably should have right there said, ‘No, he’s not going to go this week.’ But he’s a competitor. He wanted to play. [CB] Aqib [Talib] was out. [OLB] DeMarcus [Ware] was out. He wanted to go. He felt like he could go, but I’m disappointed in myself because I probably should have made that decision yesterday and I didn’t. It’s on me.”
Let me translate that for you: Gary Kubiak unsheathes sword; Gary Kubiak falls on sword.
Like any good coach, Kubiak is taking the blame on this one. But at this point, it’s just an excuse, not an explanation.
If Manning was so injured that he could not compete — which he certainly wasn’t doing on Sunday — Kubiak and the rest of the Broncos coaching staff should have known that after Friday’s practice, after Saturday’s walk through or after Sunday’s warmup. But I don’t believe that was necessarily the case. I don’t think Manning looked decidedly worse for the wear before the game because, physically, he didn’t necessarily look worse for the wear during the game.
As was his problem through the first six games of the season, Manning’s mistakes were mental, not physical. Likewise, Manning was pulled from yesterday’s game for his performance, not his health, and anything else Kubiak tells us is just damage control.
Kubiak on next week’s starter
“No. Peyton is our quarterback. If he’s healthy and ready to go, Peyton’s our quarterback.”
Sure, but he’s not healthy.
I’ve got no doubts that Kubiak believes Manning is the team’s starter at this moment, but the situation is not that cut and dry.
First off, if Manning’s injury is as serious as Kubiak is making it out to be — if Kubiak is really as regretful about playing Manning as he says he is — then I don’t see any way in which he starts Manning next week against the Bears. As I wrote before Sunday’s game, the Broncos need to give Manning some rest, both for his body and his ego.
Start Osweiler against the Bears, give Manning two weeks of R&R and bring him back against the Patriots in Week 12.
Of course, though, the one thing that could throw a wrench into that plan is if Osweiler looks great against the Bears … but we’ll cross that bridge when (if) we get there.
Manning on his health
“I have a really hard time using that as any type of excuse. I had some injuries during the week. Greek [Athletic Trainor Steve Antonopulos] and the training staff worked overtime to get me to feeling like I thought like I could go out there and play. Obviously you have to give a lot of feedback yourself, and I felt good enough to go out there and play. If you look back on it now, I have a hard time saying that’s why I played badly. Could that be the reason? I guess it always could be. But to me, that’s an easy way out. That’s kind of an easy line to say after the fact. So I was very honest with Greek and coach Kubiak that I felt like I could go. I wanted to go, I wanted to be out there for the team. I did feel like we had some guys down, with Talib down and DeMarcus down, and weren’t really sure Emmanuel was going to be able to play. So I wanted to be out there. I was as honest with them with the feedback as I could give them, and certainly did not play well and am disappointed about that.”
Here’s the deal: It’s not Manning’s job to tell the Broncos when he’s healthy enough to play. And based on his track record, unless he’s undergoing numerous neck surgeries, Peyton Manning believes he’s always healthy enough to play football.
I know there are a lot of Broncos fans out there that are angry at Manning right now, but that energy is being misguided. Manning is doing EVERYTHING he can to help the Broncos win; it’s just not enough at this moment.
Obviously, Manning wanted to play this weekend, and I’m sure he wants to play next weekend. He’s an old-school guy, and that means that if you can walk, you can play. But right now, the best thing for Manning is if he sits, and he shouldn’t stand back up until he’s healthy enough to play at a winning level, whenever that is.
Manning on playing next week
“I talked to coach Kubiak and obviously he wants to see how I feel. You know, tomorrow and during the week, I think I’d like to be able to practice during the week. I didn’t practice until Friday and that’s not ideal for anybody to go out and play, and so I’d like to be healthier to practice some on Wednesday, like I have in the past, and on Thursday. So we’ll address that when those days get there. That would be the goal to get back to a normal practice schedule, so we’ll see how that goes tomorrow.”
There’s something very important in this quote: “I didn’t practice until Friday and that’s not ideal for anybody to go out and play.”
We’ve always known how important game preparation is for Peyton Manning, and he reiterated it right there. For Kubiak and the Broncos, it also means that there’s no halfway; either he plays or he doesn’t.
Kubiak can’t decide on Saturday whether Manning is playing; he has to decide on Tuesday. Because if Peyton Manning is going to play, he needs to be practicing all week. And if he isn’t, he needs to be resting.
All the more reason why it should be Brock Osweiler under center next week vs. the Bears.
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[adrotate banner=”6″]Osweiler on going into the game
“I was just told midway through the third quarter, ‘Hey go warmup, you’re going into the football game.’ I went and took some snaps with [Broncos C] Matt [Paradis] and got a couple throws with Trevor [Siemian] our third string quarterback, and just got ready to go.”
I’m almost positive that all Brock was thinking was “Please don’t let this happen again!”
Brock Osweiler has been waiting for this moment for a long time… https://t.co/Re19ghj7UW
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) November 15, 2015
Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas on quarterback controversy
Sanders: “That’s not my call. I don’t have anything to say. All I can control is Emmanuel and that’s getting back healthy and getting back on that field and starting to make more plays.”
Thomas: “I have no idea. I am not even going to speak on that one. I’ve been playing with Peyton for so long, and Brock’s been around for so long, so I can’t speak on that one.”
At first glance, these quotes surprised me quite a bit; it almost seemed as if they weren’t ready to stand behind Manning and call him “my quarterback.” But after thinking about it some more, I don’t think that’s the case at all.
I think this entire team, especially the offense, is at a loss for words, and I don’t blame them. Hell, I don’t even know what to say. This whole Manning thing has spiraled out of control so quickly that I’m afraid every reaction is an overreaction.
Like these guys said, I think the best thing the Broncos players can do is worry about themselves and let Kubiak take responsibility over the quarterback situation.